Whenever Quentin Tarantino has a new project coming out, film fans work themselves into a tizzy, praising and/or bashing it well in advance of its release date.
At least that’s what we’re seeing with Inglourious Basterds — Tarantino’s new and confusingly misspelled war project with Brad Pitt. Criticker’s forum community seems split on whether it’s going to suck or rule, though modest optimism seems to be the prevailing mood.
User brandt64 dug up the following French trailer, which (in our opinion) seems promising.
Inglourious Basterds opens on August 21st… are you excited? Why not go join the discussion in the forum?
A couple days late, but you’re patient folks. The films making up this week’s batch of new DVD releases are a special kind of crappy, so this might be a good weekend to catch up on your classics or explore some neglected gems. Only Two Lovers, a romance between Gwenyth Paltrow & crazy man Joaquin Phoenix, managed to score decent marks from Criticker users. If you’re under 12, you won’t need informed that the Jonas Brothers’ DVD is out this week. But a word of warning — in just a few years, you’ll be ashamed of yourself. Really.
Two Lovers – Average Tier 6.77 A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor (Phoenix) torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry (Shaw) and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor (Paltrow). Two Lovers @ Amazon
12 Rounds – Average Tier 2.50 Detective Danny Fisher (Cena) discovers his girlfriend (Scott) has been kidnapped by a ex-con tied to Baxter’s past, and he’ll have to successfully complete 12 challenges in order to secure her safe release. 12 Rounds @ Amazon
Tunnel Rats – Average Tier 3.31 During the Vietnam War [1959-1975] a special US combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam. Suicide squads of a special kind. Tunnel Rats @ Amazon
Mario Bava, possibly the most important director from Italy’s golden age of sleazy horror, never lived to see the theatrical release of Rabid Dogs. However, over the course of years, it’s become one of his most appreciated works.
A roller-coaster ride of blood, murder and terror, Rabid Dogs (later re-released as Kidnapped) is 90 minutes of either unadulterated adrenaline or offensiveness, depending entirely on your level of appreciation of such things.
The plot centers around a group of nasty criminals (Doc, Thirty-Two, Stiletto and Ace) who are attempting to make a getaway after a job. Their escape is botched and they’re left having to kill and brutalize their way to freedom, kidnapping beautiful and hapless Maria as a hostage for the road.
“Bava does a masterful job directing his small cast. The majority of the picture takes place inside a station wagon and he uses every angle and every spare inch of it, giving the picture a claustrophobic, hot, manky feeling. You can practically smell Stiletto’s body odor. Each character is perfectly cast. Cucciolla plays Riccardo calm and collected with rising menace, while Lander — in what had to be a demanding role — injects humanity into Maria.” – Shameful Cinema
The Criticker users who have seen and ranked this film agree. Almost everyone has given it high marks — though this may be because the only people who’d willingly seek out violent Mario Bava films are those predisposed to like them… Still. Good enough to land Rabid Dogs in our list of Neglected Gems!
The Academy just announced that there will now be 10 nominees up for the Best Picture Oscar.
Sounds to me like a naked bid to increase attendance in the cinemas — how many people go to see a film just because it’s nominated for the best picture? I can say without hesitation that it was the only reason we watched The Reader.
The problem “came to a head with ‘The Dark Knight,’ ” which sold more than $1 billion in tickets worldwide, but was snubbed by the academy in the best picture category last year, he said.
The Batman sequel won best movie at the MTV Movie Awards and was chosen favorite movie by the People’s Choice Awards. It also made many critics’ top 10 lists.
If the nomination field had been expanded last year, the film might have made the best picture list, “which clearly would have been some kind of bump in the ratings,” Pond said.
This would also counter the impression among TV viewers that the awards show is “for movie snobs who don’t like the movies I like,” he said.
Tonight you’re all gonna be part of a social experiment.
Which of course is just another way of saying, “We’ll still be snobs, but now we’ll pretend as though Batman has a chance, in order to appease you idiots and take your money”.
Do you know a single person under 65 who thought The Reader was better than The Dark Knight? Oh well… at least this gives us more to talk about when award season comes around.
Say hello to Criticker Lists, a brand new way to rank things and compare taste with other people! Criticker has always been a great place to find what movies other people are into, and now you can find out a lot more… Criticker Lists allows you to compare taste on any topic you can imagine… G.I. Joe figures, characters from Lost, favorite natural phenomena, coolest former Yugolsav Republics and… well, there’s no limit*!
The ways to use Criticker Lists are infinite. It’s a lot of fun to compare taste in random topics with people (now that I know Dexter and I are 97% compatible in Preferred Suicide Methods, I’ll be more likely trust his taste in other things). Of course, it’s most fun with family and friends — so once you get a taste for Criticker Lists, make sure to invite them and add them as your Kumpels.
As is always the case when our limited and excitable staff rolls out new functionality, there will be errors. Please report any problems or suggestions to lists-at-criticker.com. We hope you like the new utility!
*Well, we’re not going to allow pornographic or clearly offensive imagery, but besides that there are pretty much no limits.
Cinema Jove is a summer film festival in Valencia — the 3rd biggest city in Spain and, incidentally, the current home of Criticker. It’s focused on European cinema and, though it isn’t as well-known as other Spanish festivals, it’s a big deal in Valencia.
A couple of the movies making up the official selection look great, particularly Norway’s Nord and Sweden’s Involuntary Discretions.
In addition to the films in competition, Cinema Jove invites a director to pick his or her favorite movies for an open-air screening in Valencia’s wonderful Viveros Gardens. This year’s director is Enrique Urbizu and the films he’s selected are awesome– tonight, Juergen and I are going to see Touch of Evil in the park.
Laurent Cantet
Laurent Cantet is another one of the main protagonists of this year’s festival. The French director is best known for his Palme d’Or winning masterpiece The Class. Cantet will be on hand in Valencia during the festival to receive an achievement award, and definitely helps augment the profile of Cinema Jove.
If you’re lucky enough to be in Valencia this week, make sure to check out some of the films — many of which are being screened free of charge to the public. And if you’re interested in the city, keep an eye on our city blog, holavalencia.net, where we write about all things Valencia. It’s a hidden treasure on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, which is fairly unknown to tourists despite its size.
Earlier this week, we introduced a couple new minor enhancements which will let you share your reviews with the world: Permalinks to your reviews and Automatic posting to Twitter.
So the next time you write a particularly clever mini-review, let people know about it on Twitter! Or use the permalink in whatever way you like. With the permalink, your review always appears highlighted, on top of everyone else’s.
These changes are also available for all your existing mini-reviews & ratings, too.
A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor (Phoenix) torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry (Shaw) and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor (Paltrow). 
Based on the popular video game franchise, female fighter Chun Li embarks on a quest for justice. 
Detective Danny Fisher (Cena) discovers his girlfriend (Scott) has been kidnapped by a ex-con tied to Baxter’s past, and he’ll have to successfully complete 12 challenges in order to secure her safe release. 
During the Vietnam War [1959-1975] a special US combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam. Suicide squads of a special kind. 
A 3-D concert film of the 2008 Jonas Brothers “Burning Up” concert tour, as well as documentary footage on the lives of the three brothers. 
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